Schism of Sanity
by 8ADW01F
Summary: 50 years of hard work; years of writing, acting, filming, crying and rejoicing...but none knew it was real. No one thought of it as a true story of a real man, because it was just fiction, right? Just a TV show, yeah? But that was before it all happened, before one actor and one Time Lord had the surprise of their lives. The day when David Tennant had become the Doctor.
1. David Who?

**AN: Hey guys, I know, I know. I _really_ shouldn't start another story. But I just couldn't resist starting this one up. I hope you enjoy it guys, I'm certainly enjoying writing it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or it's actors, unfortunately, otherwise David Tennant would be my butler and Matt Smith would be my personal entertainer. *Sigh* Damn you Moffat!**

The Doctor, you could say, was in quite the predicament. Well...you say 'the Doctor' but when really it was _Doctors_, with an 's'. Well...it can't really be a plural because technically there is really only one Doctor. Well...it depends on your point of view. But anyway, back to the point! The point of the matter is that the Doctor was in some pretty deep waters.

Not only were Zygons invading Earth in the future from the past, but the Doctor, or should we say _three_ Doctors, were all in one place and one time due to time fissures. Which could only mean one thing; trouble. Add to the fact that one of said Doctors was getting married to Queen Elizabeth I and you have a whole giant pile of mess. A wibbly wobbly, timey-wimey...mess.

"Is there a lot of this in the future?" The 'War' Doctor asked, as the ginger Queen snogged the hell out of 'Sandshoes'.

"It does start to happen, yeah." 'Chinny' Doctor answered, a stupefied expression on his face caused by confusion on how these sort of things happened to him in the first place.

The Queen's snogging ceased as she blessed her newly wed. The pinstriped Doctor was still stunned, almost horrified.

"God speed, my love."

He gulped then smiled slightly, thinking of an escape plan.

"I will be right back." He lied quickly then jolted off as fast as he could, almost reaching the TARDIS when-

"**Cut!** Great scene everyone, we're just gonna run it through one more time to change the camera angle as David runs to the TARDIS. Have a quick break guys! We are back to shooting in five minutes!" Nick, the Director, announced.

The air filled with chatter as the crew reassembled the equipment for the scene; fixing up final touches and moving objects back in there intended place for better set picture. The actors wandered around for a bit, stretching their legs, scratching their ears and talking with their fellow workers.

Two particular actors, both very well known in the world by their roles as the 'Doctor', spent the time of their short break chin-wagging with each other.

"Quite the kiss there, David." Matt teased, smile lit up on his face and hands shoved in his trouser pockets.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. Pick on the predecessor, why don't ya? What? Not got enough ego there, 'Chinny'?" David retorted back with just as much cheekiness and tease, his Scottish accent hugging each and every word. He gave a gigantic grin, smug as ever at his comeback.

"Oi! No need to dis the chin!" Matt replied in mock offence, stroking his chin for emphasis. He shook his head with a smile still present on his face.

"So how's the life been going? Any news from the missus?" Matt asked conversationally.

"Yeah, she's been good. She's at that stage, though, where she's starting to get a bit fed up with the pregnancy. Having a hard time with doing just common things around the house." David replied, a tad bit worried. The baby could come any time now with only a few more weeks left in the pregnancy and he's been away filming when she needs him most.

"Oh, well good luck then with it all mate and best wishes to Georgia." Matt wished sincerely.

"Yeah, thanks Matt. I'll tell her that you said-" David was interrupted in his speech as a phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. David reached into pinstriped pockets and pulled out the phone to check the number on the screen. A worried smile came on his face.

"Ah, speaking of the devil. Sorry gotta take this." He said, then started walking away to answer the call.

Matt gave a smile and a mock salute.

"Good luck mate!" Matt called.

David nodded back to him while he walked away into a more quiet spot. He answered the phone as soon as he found a secluded area.

"Hey, love. How's it going? Are you alright?" He asked, all concerned and loving.

_"Yeah, David. I'm fine. Just wondering what time you're getting home is all. Olive's running a bit of a temperature and I'm a little bit worried. Plus my feet and back are god damn killing me as always and oh what did you want for dinner tonight, if you are able to get here by then?"_

David ran a hand through his thick hair, worried about his family and when he'll finish filming.

"Uh, we've just got two or more scenes to go. So that'll probably take a couple of hours at the most so I should be home around six or seven, depending how we go. I'm so sorry, love. I promise you a _very_ nice foot rub when I get home, okay? Oh and don't worry about dinner, I'll whip up something for you tonight, something special. I promise. Give a kiss to Oli for me and tell her that I love her and that I hope she feels better. Poor little girl." He replied with concern.

_"Yeah I will." She sighs. "Thanks love. Just come home soon, okay? You don't have to do all the cooking and that. You'll be tired enough, just from work."_

"No, I want to do it! You deserve as much. You sound like you've had a rough day and I want to help. So! No cooking, you! Just try to relax, alright?" David voiced adamantly, care still dripping from his voice. The director started to call out.

"Look, love, I gotta go. Nick is calling me back for another run. I'll see you guys tonight. Get ready for the most spectacular dinner of your life! Not forgetting the _dessert,_ of course!" He expressed cheekily, hoping to cheer her up a bit. It worked like a charm as he heard his wife giggle over the phone.

_"Oh I can't wait, David. I love you."_

"Love you too, Georgia. See you soon." He farewelled and then hung up the call. David shoved his phone back into his pocket and returned back to the scene to do his running part again.

"Okay, everyone in positions. We're going to go from the part where David says 'I will be right back' and then David, you are going to run around and enter the TARDIS and then we'll move on and do the castle dungeon scenes. Okay everyone, let's go!" Nick commanded. The actors and crew did what they were instructed and prepared to jump into the scene.

"Allons-y!" David yelled out happily and all manic. The crew gave quiet chuckles and then moved on with their work.

"And...**action!**"

"I will be right back." He lied quickly then jolted off as fast as he could, reaching the TARDIS in record time. He opened the doors desperately, then jumped in without moments notice, shutting the doors on his way in.

"**Cut!** Great work. Now let's move the equipment to the tower and film the dungeon scene. Let's go everyone! Pack up and move set!" Nick instructed then moved around to check everybody's progress. There was one thing he did notice that was a bit strange; David hadn't come out of the TARDIS yet. He went up to the blue box and knocked.

"David! It's time to get out now. We're moving sets. David?" He called but got no response. The director decided to waste no more time and pulled the doors open. What the director got, was not what he expected.

As the door had opened, a body fell limp on top of him. _David's_ limp body fell on top of him. Every body froze in what they were doing and then...chaos.

"David! Are you alright?"

"What! What happened to David?"

"Is he okay?"

"Did he hit his head?"

"Someone better ring Georgia!"

"Has anyone called a medic?"

"David can you hear me?"

"David!"

"David!"

"David!"

And then suddenly...he jolted right up. Everyone startled.

"Oh thank god! David you gave us one hell of a scare! Quick, someone get a medic or a nurse! Anyone! He might still have a concussion or something." Nick ordered, trying to be at least civilised and calm. Everyone calmed down slightly but still were in an utter mess.

"Hey, David. Are you alright? What the hell happened?" He asked, a bit ruffled and messed from catching the actor. David's face was blank and very confused. He looked around at all the people in front of him and then directed his attention back to the man questioning him. David spoke, but funnily enough, without his Scottish accent.

"Sorry, but you seem to have me at quite a disadvantage here. Who's this David? And how on..." David sniffed the air and looked around at his surroundings, "Earth? Yep. Earth. 21st century if I had to guess. Did I get here? Who are all you people?" He asked curiously but with a tad bit of irritation.

Everyone stared at him, as if he just came from the loony bin. An awkward silence stretched, with no one making any movement. Moffat was the first to break the silence, standing in the middle of the crowded area.

"I think we're going to need a doctor. And quick." He spoke calmly.

But what he didn't know, as well as everyone else in the area, was that there was already a doctor among them. In fact, the physician was right in front of their eyes, they just couldn't see that. But the problem was that it wasn't _a_ doctor, it was _the_ Doctor.

Right,

In front,

Of their eyes.


	2. Mad Scottish Spaceman

**AN: Hey guys! I'm having lots of fun writing this so I thought since its all done that I shall give you all another chapter! Hope you guys enjoy it! Oh and shout out to Hellraven-ovo for being the first reviewer!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its actors, unfortunately BBC got the last bid. Damn you BBC! I was so close to owning it!**

His head spun, taste buds were dry and body ached all over. David groaned. _Damn, this is one hell of a hangover. _He thought. Wait. Hangover? Since when does he ever get a hangover?

"Doctor!" A frantic female voice called out. It sounded familiar, very _very_ familiar. He knew that voice but couldn't quite place it with this muddled up head of his. David could feel light touching his eyelids, coaxing him to open them up. But when he tried, he couldn't even give a peep.

"Doctor, can you hear me?" That rattling voice rung in his ear once again. David gave a frustrated mumble in response. He had a big enough headache as it was, there was no need to make it an explosion in his ear. How had he even fallen unconscious in the first place? Wasn't he just filming moments ago? Had he hit his head or something? If he did, he must of hit it pretty hard.

"Oh, good you can hear. So will you please get your skinny space ass up and tell me what the hell is going on?!" The voice prattled annoyingly. Yep. He definitely knew that voice. Strangely enough, he was getting some kind of ginger vibe. A big loud mouth, female ginger with a hell of a lot of attitude who also was slightly-wait! No, it can't be!

"Catherine?" David finally voiced, just being able to open his eyes a bit, still adjusting to the light.

"Oi! What are you calling me Catherine for?! Already forgotten my name, huh? How many blinkin' woman have you travelled with? Blimey, how big of a space dunce are you?" The fiery woman shouted.

David blinked, adjusting his eyes to his new surroundings. He was beyond confused right now. How on Earth did he manage to end up on the TARDIS console set? And why was Catherine even _here_ in the first place and berating him for that matter? What the hell was going on?

"Catherine? What in bloody hell happened? Why are you calling me the Doctor? Blimey! How long have I been out for?" David asked, extremely befuddled and confused. Was the filming over? Was this meant to be some sort of prank or something? Why was he even on this set anyway? Was there really any point to this? He didn't know. All he wanted to do was go home, take an aspirin and snuggle up to his pregnant wife. Ugh! He could hardly think with the constant pounding in his ears, let alone have a sassy redhead shout curses at him!

Catherine gave him a very not amused expression and in the next minute, before he could even blink, she gave him a good whack on the head. A moment of shock flitted across David's face as he did a double take.

"Oi! What was that for?!" David shrieked as his headache flared. _Blimey, she's got a good arm on her._

Catherine narrowed her eyes, sucked in her cheeks and crossed her arms; a not very happy look upon her face.

"Do I have to spell it out to you? Honestly, what goes up in that little alien brain of yours? Is there even one up there? And what happened to your accent? It's all Irishy now-"

"Oi! It's Scottish!" David rebutted defensively, overlapping her voice.

"Scottish, Irish. Potato, tomato. What difference does it make? Does this sorta thing happen often? What, one day your speaking English and then the next moment you'll just speak Martian or something? You could warn me ya know! Ya mad Scottish spaceman! And what? You got amnesia or something? Because I'm pretty sure as hell that my name is Donna! Dooonnnnnnnaaaa! Not **Catherine!**" She dished out, fury and sass hanging on every word. She was fuming at David.

A sudden moment of clarity and understanding flowed through David's mind.

"Ohhh. Are we meant to be in character? Is this some kind of improvisation exercise or something? I didn't know you were even going to be in the 50th Cath-" Her glare intensified. "Uh-er, _Donna_. So where are the crew and how the hell did I get from Chipstow to Cardiff?" He rubbed his temples after he spoke. His headache was dulling but it still was being a pain in the ass, plus he had to deal with this jibberish nonsense which did not help his head. But something else felt weird, a bit off. Like his whole body felt different and not his own, but that was just all in the head. It had to be.

"What the hell are you talking about, Doctor? Have you finally gone loony? Like proper mad, chuck you off to the loony bin kind of crazy? Oh great! I'm stuck in space with a mentally impaired alien who just happens to be my ride home! Oh this is rich! Of course this has to happen to me..." 'Donna' hollered, whilst walking around in circles.

_Wow. She's taking this in character thing to a whole new level. _David thought curiously, before breaking into his character. _Might as well have a little fun. If this was just some improv or even a little prank, why not? What's the harm?_

"Really, Donna? Mentally impaired? Blimey, the stuff you come up with." He said with his fake Estuary accent, jumping up from the grating and running around the console, pretending like he was looking at a monitor.

'Donna' had a look of bafflement, completely gobsmacked.

"W-what? So your back now? No more weird Scottish babbling and calling me Catherine? Just you now? Being a daft skinny alien? Just like that?" She asked skeptically with a tad bit of disbelief and shock as she walked up to him to get closer.

"Yep. Just like that!" He answered all manic, in what could be only described as Doctor-like; being vague and cheerful as usual. 'Donna' was having none of it. She was going to put her Doctor in his place.

She sauntered up to him with intent, hand ready and 'Doctor' oblivious. With one big swing, she slapped him right on the cheek. The reaction was almost immediate as David screamed, a very _manly_ scream and retracted back from the pain.

"Ow! What's with all the hitting?" He complained as he doubled over in pain, caressing his sore red cheek.

"Could you not be vague for more than a second? What happened? Why were you being all weird...er than usual? Were you pulling my leg? You were, weren't you! Ya alien git! Scared me half to death, you did, just knocking out cold for no damn reason! I thought you had died or had a heart attack or something! _Don't_ do that to me again." She retorted dangerously.

David finally calmed down after taking the harsh hit, then drew in a big breath to launch into a massive monologue of an explanation.

"Now first and foremost, 1. Were you ever a boxer cos' blimey, that's gonna leave a mark. 2. No, I did not pull some sort of prank on you. This all just sort of happened for some unknown reason. C. I don't know how I blacked out, really like to know that myself actually. Takes a lot to knock out a Time Lord; superior physiology and all that. And D. or 4. Kinda got mixed up along the line. But anyway, the reason for the whole accent and loony thing is simple. Temporal displacement in the cerebral cortex! The lack of oxygen to my brain made me travel back in time in my own head to one of my memories, for which was a time that I had spoken with a Scottish accent. Brain got all confused and changed my speech pattern and had me rattling off on some confusing things that didn't make any sense. Basically because, not to brag but, got a big brain me and that big brain holds a lot of memories to which were all over the place when I was speaking to you. Therefore, crazy speech and Scottish accent!" He babbled on. David was impressed, like _really_ impressed. That had to be one of his best improvisations that he had ever done. It just flowed from him like it was nothing, like it was just a regular occurrence for him to rattle on about 'temporal displacement' and 'speech patterns'. Whilst very surprised and satisfied with his performance, David was a little weirded out on how well he had done. _A little too well done_. He thought apprehensively.

'Donna' looked as if she might dribble on her shirt, face blank and confused on his babbling nonsense.

"So basically, your saying that your mind exploded, became a time machine and then made you become a mad Scot?" She asked doubtfully.

"Yeah...welllll. When you say it like that, it does sound a bit mad. But, basically...yeah." He replied unconvincingly, scratching the back of his head for effect. David started to properly look around the room once the silence became a bit awkward. As he did so, though, he notice one peculiar thing, a very strange thing; the set went all the way round. It was no longer a half set, the walls went all the round like an ordinary room; well not ordinary but you get the point.

"Well, that's new. Definitely not seen this before." He stated quietly, as he slowly turned his body all the way round.

"What's new?" 'Donna' asked, coming around to see what he was looking at.

"The walls. They go all the way round and look! There's even a roof!" David exclaimed, baffled at the new construction.

"What do you mean there's walls and a roof? Of course there is! Otherwise we'd be blown out to bloody space! Blimey. And I thought I was dim. Are you sure you haven't lost too many brain cells there, Doctor?" 'Donna' pelted at David. David sighed, a little bit tired of this game that they were playing.

"No, never mind. Just me being daft as usual." He expressed dully, and then just as quick as you could say Raxacoricofallapatorius, he sprung up all cheerful, bouncing around the console.

"Anyway! Time for an adventure I say! New worlds, new people! Evil dictatorships, fatal outbreaks, damsels in distress; the lot. All need saving, yeah? Ya ready?" David excitably said, resuming his role as the Doctor. He was just about to start playing with the controls on the console, when 'Donna' stopped him.

"Doctor! Don't you remember? We've already landed someplace. Just before you blacked out. Said something about a library or something." She spoke with a little concern. She might've been joking about losing his mind and such, but honestly she was a little worried. The Doctor was all out of his wits today.

"Yes. Right. Of course. Knew that. Alright then! No time like the present! Allons-y!" David shouted then headed in the direction of the door. _Finally! This is all coming to an end._ David thought. _I'll just walk through those doors, the crew will yell out surprise or you've been pranked or something and then we will celebrate. Eat some cake. Then I'll go home to Georgia and make that dinner that I promised. _Everything was going to go just as planned. Piece of cake! Or so he thought.

David made it to the doors, trench coat flying behind him. _Mhm. The trench coat, wonder where they found it. _Catherine towed behind him, not being able to catch up to his excited jog. He opened the doors, but definitely did not get what he expected.

_Bump. Bump. Bump. Bump._

Books. Shelves and shelves of books with sunlight beaming across them.

He knew this place. Of course, he knew! But it just wasn't possible! It _couldn't_ be possible. It was just all sets and programs and green screen! It couldn't be real! David ran out as fast as he could but didn't run into any sets or green screens. _Okay so it's real then, but how? _He thought as he grabbed a book off a shelf to see if it was real and not a hallucination. Satisfied that it was indeed real, he then turned back around. What he saw made his jaw drop.

"What?" He whispered in shock.

_Bump. Bump. Bump. Bump._

It was the TARDIS. As a police box. Smaller on the outside.

If David hadn't thought he'd gone crazy before, then he definitely knew now. He ran around the box in desperation, trying to see if it was an illusion or not. It wasn't.

"What?" He said a bit louder this time and then proceeded to run back inside the TARDIS, checking to see if it was still bigger on the inside. It was.

_Bump. Bump. Bump. Bump._

"**What?!**" He shouted, terrified that he had gone mad, like truly bonkers. Had he fallen unconscious? Was this just a dream? A figment of imagination?

"Doctor what is it?! What's wrong with the TARDIS?" Donna shrieked frantically, worried that the TARDIS had broken down or something, with the way that he was looking at it.

"It's-" David gulped. He couldn't say the words, too shocked to even speak properly.

_Bump. Bump. Bump. Bump._

"It's-uh, oh wow. I must of hit my head pretty hard. Really_, really _hard." He muttered.

"What was that, Doctor?" Donna asked, unable to hear what he mumbled.

"It's bigger on the inside." He whispered in awe, blinking a few times and running his hands down his face in stress, when suddenly they accidentally landed on his chest. _No. It can't be. It can't be!_

Bump. Bump. Bump. Bump.

"No!" He gasped lowly, slowly lifting his head up to Donna's whom was looking at David as if he'd lost a head. _  
_

"I've got two hearts!" He breathed shakily, not being able to even fathom the circumstances. _I couldn't just have my cake, couldn't I?! _He thought bitterly.

No, David. Because you can't have your cake and eat it too. That's just life.


	3. A Rose By Another Name

**AN: Hey Guys! Here's another update! Thanks for reviewing and following so quickly! Shout out to Dengirl, SadAngel262 and Mile. Phoenix Fox for reviewing! Thanks to everyone else for following and favouriting! You guys just make it all the better in writing this fic. Oh and if I make any mistakes like gramma, spelling or Who inaccuracies, please tell me so that I can fix them! I want to make this story as sharp and crisp as possible! So keep on reviewing guys and I'll cya soon. Allons-y!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its actors, unfortunately, I already have my own time machine to travel in space and time.**

_"I think we're going to need a doctor. And quick." He spoke calmly._

_But what he didn't know, as well as everyone else in the area, was that there was already a doctor among them. In fact, the physician was right in front of their eyes, they just couldn't see that. But the problem was that it wasn't _a_ doctor, it was _the_ Doctor._

_Right._

_In front._

_Of their eyes._

"Well that's an easy fix!" Exclaimed the Doctor, standing up quickly only to wobble like jelly and then collapse back down again; this time on his butt. Everyone moved quickly to steady him back up, crowding him ever so slightly.

"Oops. Sorry. Awful stuff that is; time travelling without a capsule. Ooh, blimey, nasty headache! Anyway! Based on the fact that I've travelled 3000 years back in the past and to Earth for that matter, it's the only plausible theory that I've got so far. The question is _how_? How did I travel back in time? And without a capsule or my TARDIS for that matter?" He babbled on, unaware of the striking stares emitted from everyone surrounding him. Once the Doctor did realise that everyone was gaping at him like a goldfish, he straightened his suit, ran his fingers through his hair and decided that it was time to introduce himself.

"Oh, sorry. How rude of me! Hello, I'm the Doctor!" He announced all chipper.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, some gave a little chuckle, others gave an irritated expression. Nick was not impressed.

"God, David! Don't do that! Never again! Scared us all half to death. Okay everyone! Back to work! We need everything set up for the dungeon scene!" Nick commanded only to be responded with murmurs and curious glances. He gave out an irritated grunt.

"Move everyone! Or consider your jobs here vacant!" He yelled over the commotion. Everybody quietened and got back quickly to their jobs, not eager to lose them so soon. Whilst everyone was moving into the castle, equipment in their hands and schedules being checked, the Doctor stared blankly at the people before him, wondering why they reacted so amused and also irritated at his name. That definitely hasn't happened to him before. He's gotten 'Doctor who?', 'Doctor what?', 'What kind of name is Doctor?'. Sometimes he's even gotten people who don't question him at all. But never for the life of him, has he ever gotten a reaction like that before, and he's lived long life. Almost too long. It's almost like they knew him, but didn't at the same time and who was this 'David' that they were referring to him as? He'd have to do a little digging. As the Doctor went into investigating mode, he noticed some filming equipment such as cameras, boom mic's and props etc being moved into the castle.

"So they're filming something, are they? A movie? A show? An advertisement? Ah, that would be rubbish if it was! The question is; where do I come into it? Why am I here in the first place? _How_ am I even here? There's gotta be some sort disturbance, some alien at works here." He spoke to himself, trying to work out the big puzzle in his head. He reach into his inner suit pocket to grab his sonic but noticed one thing; he didn't have his coat on. _Now where did that get to?! I love that coat! Janis Joplin gave that to me! _He thought loudly in his head. He continued to grab his sonic and then flicked it out to scan the area. Once he had finished scanning, the Doctor pulled the sonic back in to check the results. What he got both irritated him and surprised him. The sonic had no display screen! In fact it wasn't even a real sonic screwdriver, just a toy with a light that makes funny sounds!

"Oh now that's rubbish! What happened to my sonic?! Why is it just a toy now? Oh that's just useless! Who would ever make a fake sonic screwdriver?" He complained as he threw the useless contraption over his shoulder.

As he finished his little tantrum, the Doctor turned around from his spot to check where about on Earth he was. Somewhere in Britain, he knew as much from the accents of the people around him. The castle was a giveaway also. But when he turned around to check his surroundings, a mixture of hope and shock filled his body. The TARDIS was standing right before him, all in her glory and blueness. _The TARDIS! It was here! _A massive grin lit up on his face and before he knew it, he was sprinting towards her door.

"Oh you gorgeous thing, you!" He praised the blue box, as he arrived at the door to push it open. Once he did, though, he ended up with a lot of disappointment and _fear_. The TARDIS was empty. Just a blue Police Box and nothing other! Just four small walls and no longer bigger on this inside! The Doctor thought the worst.

"No! No! No! No! No!" He cried out in horror, running in and out of the blue box to check that he hadn't gone mad. The Doctor collapsed down onto the ground in defeat. He just lost his one true best friend. The one girl that always stuck by him. But he's all alone now. Truly alone. The last piece of Gallifrey, all lost and gone.

The Doctor suddenly jumped up as an epiphany struck him.

"Donna!" He yelled out triumphantly, back in a more positive state. Donna was in the TARDIS with him before he somehow travelled back in time. So if she hadn't been pulled with him then that meant...

"Oh yes!" He cheered in hope.

She was still in the TARDIS, which meant that this blue thing was just an ordinary Police Box and not the TARDIS regressed into her chameleon form. Otherwise, Donna would've been still in there due to a TARDIS failsafe. The Doctor sighed in relief. She was still alive. His Old Girl had not been lost and gone forever. But the Doctor couldn't celebrate just yet. He still didn't know why he was there and whether the TARDIS was still where he left her, or the fact whether Donna was alright and hadn't messed around with the TARDIS controls. He sighed yet again, only this time in stress. These thoughts and worries were doing him no good. For all he could know, Donna could be sitting in the TARDIS safe and sound preparing a mouthful of a speech for when he came back. _If_ he came back. That's something he hadn't really thought about or taken consideration in. Once he does figure out what's going on in this place, and he will, how will he return back? How could he find the right equipment and devices for time travel in the 21st century? He'd just have to cross that bridge when he came to it, he guessed. As soon as he settled his thoughts, the Doctor once again went back into investigating mode, this time in search for someone he could speak with.

He looked for his victim to interrogate which just so happened to be a young brunette girl dressed in a red polka dot dress, leather jacket and black stockings. Her face seemed familiar to him; like an old acquaintance that he couldn't quite remember. He shook off that thought and approached the short girl.

"Um, hello! So we're doing a little filming, yeah? What exactly are we filming, just out of curiosity?" He greeted, straight to the point. The girl gave him a strange look as if he looked like a running chicken with a chopped off head.

"Uh, are you alright, David? You're acting a bit strange. You know that you don't have to act off camera, yeah?" The brunette replied, not at all answering his question. The Doctor fidgeted in irritation.

"Yeah. Of course. I know that! But what exactly are we acting for?" The Doctor asked fishing for answers, unaware of how much an idiot he sounded like.

"My god, David! Did you actually hit your head? You know you can drop the accent by the way. And we're filming the 50th!" She exclaimed, staring at him knowingly. No recognition even flittered across his face, just all blank and confused.

"The 50th anniversary of Doctor Who? The show you were on for 4 years? Playing the Doctor? A 900 year old Time Lord that travels in a TARDIS? Ringing any bells?" The girl spelled out as if speaking with a child. The Doctor did a double take and looked like a bomb had been dropped on him. Doctor Who? There was a show about him? Since when?

"Doctor What! 50th anniversary? Since when has there ever been a show about me?! Well, 50 years ago obviously. But I would've known about this by now! I _should've_ known this by now. 900 years of travelling and I have not found any show about me until now. Who runs it? Who writes it? Who even started it?! How did this happen in the first place, without me even being aware of it?!" The Doctor questioned desperately, hands running through his hair, pacing around in circles.

The brunette rose a questionable eyebrow at him. _Blimey, he's a dramatic. _She thought_. He is cute, though. _

"Wow. You really get into this acting method, don't you? Really get in character, you do. But how can I talk! Every actor has their technique. I think we better start heading to the castle, though, David. I think they're setting up the next scene." The brunette observed, still slightly put off with the Doctor's antics.

"B-but! I never even-Oh never mind! Guess we better go then. Sorry, slipped my mind but your name is?" The Doctor asked, still shocked and a bit disheveled from the revelation that there was a show about him. He still had to go along with things otherwise it would be harder for him to investigate on what was happening. _Better to get an inside look. _He thought_._

"Uh-Jenna." She stated in an obvious tone, a bit confused and slightly offended that he couldn't even remember her name.

"Right, Jenna! Allons-y!" He commanded brightly, starting to already head into the direction of the castle.

"Yep. Um-okay. I guess." Jenna voiced a bit awkwardly, being left behind after the Doctor sodded off. After shaking off the weirdness that the Doctor exuded upon her, Jenna headed toward the castle, the same direction as the Doctor.

_A TV show, running for fifty years! _The Doctor thought ghastly. _How have I not known since now? _Better yet, why has no one told him? Surely at least one of his companions should've known! _Fifty years!_ All he knew was that he was going to have a very long chat with UNIT after he dealt with this. He turned his head back to look at the TARDIS replica. A _very_ long chat, indeed.

By the time the Doctor had made it into the Castle, all the props and cameras were set up and the director was giving directions to the actors and the crew.

"-and we need John just situated by the door there. Matt you're perfect where you are. And where the bloody hell is David?! Has he went and gone fainting again?! Blimey, that man! Where is he? Where's David?" The director, Nick, shouted.

The whole crew situated by the Doctor, stared at him almost instantaneously. The Doctor, oblivious to all the attention, turned his head side to side wondering where this David went...

"Oh. Right. That's me." He muttered comically, walking towards the irritated director.

"David! Finally! I need you to just stand next to that pillar between Matt and Billie. We're doing the second Dungeon scene. You remember your lines yeah?"

The Doctor nodded nonchalantly, not really paying attention to what the stressed director was saying. The Doctor walked on the set, surveying his area and positioning when something or rather _someone_ caught his eye.

"Rose?" He whispered in both shock and hope. His eyes glassing over with tears, as he walked over to the pink and yellow human, all dressed in shredded rags.

Billie turned her attention to the Doctor, a smile lighting her face.

"Oh, hey David! Didn't see ya there. How you been? Oh, and I heard about that little hoax you pulled earlier on. Cheeky devil, you are!" She replied happily, as if they had never been separated.

The Doctor frowned, not at all liking the way she reacted to him.

"Rose?" He asked both pleadingly and confusedly, hoping, begging that it was truly her. She sighed, a small smile still gracing her face.

"Oh, that brings back memories. You know, I've really missed working with you, David. We had a good laugh, we did. Good times it was." Not Rose replied with nostalgia.

The Doctor thought he might collapse in agony, at the hope that ripped from his hearts. He shattered bit by bit on the inside.

"Excuse me." He barely managed to croak as he found a crate a few metres away from him and headed towards that. Billie looked on in concern at the sudden distraught change in his attitude but was distracted when one of her makeup artists called her for a quick fix-up.

The Doctor leant on the crate box for support, arms out in front of him, head down and chest heaving back and forth in painful gasps. He couldn't take it anymore. The pain from finding out that this Rose was not Rose but some stupid look-a-like actress that played her, made his blood boil in his hot temper. He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into the box in frustration, creating a loud boom amongst the atmosphere. His erratic breathing filled the air as it became silent. Footsteps approach him and then suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder. The Doctor didn't flinch, not caring for the comfort that this unknown person gave out to him. He was still stuck in his angst of thoughts.

"Are you alright there, son?"

The Doctor's blood froze, that voice penetrating each and every part of his body. Oh, he knew that voice. Clear as day. It was the voice that haunted him every single day of his life. The voice of his misery, his pain, his guilt. The Doctor turned around stiffly, looking at the face of the person whom emitted the voice, whom emitted his nightmares.

"You! Why are you here?!" He gasped in horror and terror, as he stared into the eyes of the person who killed millions and destructed whole planets. It was _him_. The Doctor. _No, not the Doctor. Never the Doctor!_

The Warrior.

Destroyer of Gallifrey.


	4. Shadows of Delusion

**AN: Hey guys! Sorry for the slight delay but the updates are probably going to be like this for a while as I'm back to school tomorrow and I have my prelims coming up in a few weeks time. But anyways! I'm going to try to update at least once every fortnight and if your lucky, once every week. Thanks for the reviews everyone! The response to this story has been brilliant! Molto Bene! So many new follows and new comments. Keep up the good work! It makes me very excited to write more. This chapter has been made a bit longer just for you guys because the delay of the update. Hope you enjoy it! Poor David, he doesn't know what's coming.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor who, but I do own a TARDIS towel, which hardly even dries at all. I swear it's water resistant. Damn you BBC franchise!**

_Bump. Bump. Bump. Bump._

_"No!" He gasped lowly, slowly lifting his head up to Donna's whom was looking at David as if he'd lost a head. _

_"I've got two hearts!" He breathed shakily, not being able to even fathom the circumstances. _I couldn't just have my cake, couldn't I?!_ He thought bitterly._

_No, David. Because you can't have your cake and eat it too. That's just life._

"Oi, alien boy! No more messing with me today!_ Two hearts._ What do you take me for?! Of course you got two hearts, you're a Time Lord, dumbo!" Donna scoffed off to the space dunce.

David was in a trance-like state, tuning out the yapping ginger and focusing on the double beat that was pounding in his ears, too much in shock to focus on anything else. Though, as soon as he started focusing on the rush of his blood and the pumping of his heart-er _hearts, _he realised suddenly that he could _feel _the functions of his body; every detail and element. He could _feel_ his organs manufacturing the needed acids, nutrients, gases and liquids for his body. He could _feel_ the circulation rate of his blood flow, from the tip of his toes to the intricate circularly system in his brain. He could _feel_ each and every electrical pulse charging through his synapses in the nerves of his neocortex. He could _feel_ the exchange of oxygen in his...a sudden daunting realisation came upon him. He had no lungs. How could he breath if he had no lungs?! David started to hyperventilate. He was was panicking, badly and could hardly breathe with his muddled up thoughts.

"Doctor! Doctor what's wrong?! What do you need?! Are you choking?! What are you choking on?! Air?!" Donna frantically shouted still with her attitude intact, as she started to run comically behind David. She then wrapped her arms around his torso to do the Heimlich manoeuvre, mistaking his hyperventilation as choking.

"Don't worry spaceman! I've got you! Now don't you dare die and regenerate on me!" She announced as she punched his stomach both harshly and awkwardly.

David grunted at the pain and snapped out of his panic trance, trying desperately to get out of the arms of the destructive woman.

"Do-onna st-op! I'm fine!" He choked out in a shout of discontent. Donna dropped her arms immediately as David grabbed his stomach in pain from the repetitive hitting to his torso.

"Blimey, you can pack a punch!" David gasped, unaware of the death stare the redhead woman was giving him.

"What the hell happened?!" Donna shouted, a bit rattled from the dramatic events and the heavy breathing. David lifted himself up from his crouched position and gave a tired sigh, finally more calm and relieved but still a bit shaken.

"Oh that was freaky. Never doing that again! I must be dreaming or hit my head really hard or something. Could be both really. Cos this is unbelievable!" David blurted out, slipping back into his Scottish accent. Donna rolled her eyes, exasperated.

"Oh no. Did your mind explode and do that time traveling thing again? Oh great! I've got the mad Scot again! Can't you just act normal? For once!" Donna remarked in irritation.

David looked at her curiously, convinced now that this was all some weird dream that he conjured up in his mind. All he wanted to do was wake up now and get back home. Is it actually normal to feel tired in your dreams? Because he was exhausted! But he decided if he wasn't waking up anytime soon then he might as well go along with the flow. The realism of it though! He's had some pretty realistic dreams before, most of which consisted of him somehow arriving naked at work, (Those were not dreams! They were complete nightmares. He shuttered.) but none of them even compared to the one that he was living in now. Not only could he actually _feel_, but he could properly think as well! Most dreams that he had, there was no control over his actions or anything but with this one he could actually focus on what he was doing. _God, I feel like I've been zapped right into the Matrix!_ If he didn't know any better than he would've definitely thought that this was all real, but he knew that was completely impossible; utterly and wholly, no questions asked. That didn't stop him, though, from feeling a huge foreboding that he might possibly be wrong.

"So you really are Donna, then. Blimey, no wonder for the mouth and the slapping. I just thought it was really good acting!" David commented. Donna was very much not amused with this remark.

"Oi! You better watch it there, ya spacey Scot! And snap out of it will ya! Do I need to give you another good whack on the head to get the oxygen back to that gerbil vortex thingy in ya brain?" Donna threatened David.

David instantly retreated in fear of another hit and surrendered back into his 'Doctor' act.

"Yes. Quite right-Wait no! No. More. Hitting! My brain's already been jumbled up enough as it is, thank you very much! No need for more cerebral damage. And _that_ is how you are _suppose_ to pronounce it. Not gerbil vortex but _cerebral_ _cortex. _But well...technically speaking, the effects of the temporal displacement specifically took place in my superior temporal lobe, located in the lateral surface of the cerebral cortex, in which hypoxation occurred in as well as in the cerebellum! Both lobes, in which hold the functions of my language receptions and expressions, as well as my perceptual thinking, slowed down their neuronic connectivity making my language and perception deceptive and illusionistic. Hence the mad Scot! Ha! Definitely explains the relapse though...oh look! A banana! In my pocket! Oh. That. Is. Brilliant! Molto bene! Bananatastic!-Oh...never using that word again." David rambled as he marvelled at the elliptical shaped fruit, peeling it's skin and promptly shoving it in his mouth. The sudden distraction of the yellow food, made David completely unaware of the long and complicated technical evaluation he had just expressed. Half of those words he hardly even knew. A neurosurgeon would barely be able to keep up with the technical mumbo jumbo he had just blurted out and yet he had spoken it with such fluency and with no hesitation. It was as of it had come right off the top of his head because scarily enough, it did.

Donna once again stared at the Time Lord blankly as if he had just spoken in an entirely different language. What surprised her even more was the sudden outburst of sounds after he took a bite of the banana. An outbursting sound of _pleasure_.

"Mmm. Oh that-_that_ is exquisite!" David moaned as the heightened tastes of his new senses indulged the sweet, delectable fruit. He closed his eyes in satisfaction, savouring every sense, every flavour, every delightful chemical reaction of the food with his enzymes and bodily hormones. The new tingles and delights enveloped his body and David found himself sighing with contentment. _That has to be the most delicious thing I've ever tasted._

Donna looked on with disgust and horror.

"Ugh! Should I leave you two alone?! Honestly! And really? You're eating a banana _now_?! Out of all times! Right here, right now." She remarked aghast. David looked like a deer caught in headlights but then changed his expression quickly to a look of innocence, banana half way down his throat, to try and cover up the embarrassment of her accusation. Donna gave an exasperated sigh at his expression, head shaking indignantly as she brought her hand to her head.

"Speaking of which, where exactly are we right now? A library?" Donna asked, starting to wander through the dim, open room. David immediately consumed the rest of his banana then stuffed the peel in his pocket humorously. Once the peel was disposed, he scratched the back of head awkwardly and then ran to catch up with Donna.

"Not _a_ library, _the_ Library. So big it doesn't need a name. Just a great big The. 51st century, we landed in, if I remember correctly." He explained remembering his lines from this particular episode. It always gave him the shivers, this one; the darkness and death. For a whole week he couldn't sleep in the dark because of it, always had to leave his door slightly ajar to let light spill in. It was irrational and childlike, he knew of course, but even as an adult these things did affect him as it would to a kid.

They opened a set of double doors where they eventually met a grand marble staircase, one that David remembered filming on during this scene. As they came to the bottom, a breathtaking view of a glorious futuristic city came to their sights. David was in awe at the picturesque landscape, all soaked in golden light from the sun setting. He'd never seen anything like it. The way his dream had captured this view was almost impossible. Everything was so clear and in so much detail. The way the sky became a brilliant orange and how the entire silver city shone a radiant gold, shimmering in the rays of the resting sun. When he filmed this scene he never really got to see a view like this, mainly because it was all done with green screen and computer animation. David gave an awed sigh then turned his attention to the cheeky redhead who was also admiring the magnificent view.

"It's like a city." Donna stated, eyes still fixated on the scenery.

"It's a world. Literally a world. The whole core of the planet is a computer. An index computer I think. Biggest hard drive ever with every book ever written all up here. Continents of all different authors, series, Monty Python's Big Red Book...all brand new and specially printed." He explained trying to correctly remember the information from the episode. He was pretty sure that he might've missed a line or two but he was still trying to wrap his head around this whole dream thing. He did, however, remember his next part as he stuck his finger in the air like he was testing the wind or temperature.

"We're near the equator, so this must be biographies. I love biographies!" He mentioned cheerfully.

"Yeah, very you. Always a death at the end." Donna voiced dryly, wandering over to a stack of books.

"You need a good death. Without death, there'd only be comedies. Dying gives us-" David immediately cut himself off as Donna picked up a book from the balcony railing. Knowing what actually was in them, David ran over to her instantly and desperately slapped the book right out of her hands, the heavy object hitting the ground with a thunk.

"What was that for?!" Donna screeched, momentarily shocked by the sudden attack.

"I-uh-er-Spoilers!" David stuttered out, not wanting Donna to know the real reason in fear of scaring her for some reason or another. _I mean, she is just a figment of my imagination. So why do I even care about something like that?_

"What?" Donna questioned, a little confused and very irritated. David ran a hand through his thick hair in stress, pacing back and forth in a fidgety manner.

"These books are from your future. You don't want to read ahead. Spoil all the surprises, like peeking at the end." He answered unconvincingly, a little bit of fear tinging his voice. Why was he even afraid anyway? What was with all the anxiousness from the books? _It's just a dream. Nothing can truly hurt me. I am safe. At least that's what I think..._

"What? That's your reason for scaring the life out of me? Spoilers. Isn't travelling with you one big spoiler?" Donna replied sassily.

"I try to keep you away from major plot developments. Which, to be honest, I seem to be very bad at, because you know what? This library, this whole planet is completely silent and I betcha if I do this-" He walked over to a display screen and used the sonic screwdriver over it, then typed on a keypad."-scan for humanoid life forms; zippo, nada. Well...excluding us of course. But scan for any kind of life..." He paused letting Donna see the information display. "A million million. Gives up after that. A million million life forms on this planet." David dramatically exclaims.

Donna being very spooked by David's dramatic explanation, uses her mouth to somehow relieve the foreboding stirring inside her from the severity of David's voice.

"But there's no one here. There's just books. I mean, it's not the books, is it? I mean it can't be the books, can it? I mean books can't be alive." She insisted doubtingly, in disbelief of the potential threat this library could be.

David's stare was fierce as he looked into Donna's eyes firmly and grabbed her shoulders for extra attention.

"Stay out of the shadows." He whispered firmly in command, seriousness dripping on every word. Donna looked as if she might combust from terror.

"W-why? What's in the shadows?" She asked with a slight tremble. Her question was only met with silence, as David kept quiet and stared intensely at the ginger woman.

"Welcome."

David and Donna jumped at the sudden noise emitting from the room where they just came from.

"That came from here."

"Yeah."

They gasped out simultaneously as they turned back to the room to investigate the voice. When they walked back up the marble staircase, they then proceeded to open the doors and enter into the wide open room. Once inside they noticed a desk situated in the middle of the large chamber, resembling some sort of receptionist area. As they got closer, they noticed a kind of robot shaped sort of like a weird mannequin turning around, revealing a realistic human face. David grimaced at knowing that they really were real. The thought of it sickened him slightly whilst also intriguing him a bit. _Why am I even thinking like that? This is not real. It's just a dream...so why does it feel otherwise?_

"I am Courtesy Node 710/Aqua. Please enjoy the Library and respect the personal access codes of all your fellow readers, regardless of species or hygiene taboo." The emotionless female voice of the realistic face emitted, her chocolate skinned face embedded into the robotic interface.

"That face, it looks real." Donna stated obviously.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." David quickly dismissed, knowing how she would react to the truth.

"A statue with a real face, though? It's a hologram or something, isn't it?" Donna remarked, humour lacing her voice with a tad of smugness.

"No, but really, it's fine." David brushed off in irritation, thinking of a way to somehow get out of this Library. Maybe he could...

"Additional. There follows a brief message from the Head Librarian for your urgent attention. It has been edited for tone and content by a Felman Lux Automated Decency Filter. Message follows. Run. For God's sake, run. No way is safe. The library has sealed itself, we can't. Oh, they're here. Argh. Slarg. Snick. Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm. units for the comfort of other readers." The robotic voice spoke.

Donna was a bit startled by the extreme weight of the message and it's suspense. Something in the Library must've killed all those people. The question was where was it now?

"Come on, Donna. Let's go. Back to the TARDIS." David commanded, mind already made. He definitely would not stay there any longer. There was no need to make this dream into a nightmare. He knew what would happen if he stayed and the Vashta Nerada was something that he would very not like to face, even if it's in a dream/nightmare.

"What? But? But what about all those people?" Donna questioned David incredulously, walking up to stop him.

"No questions asked, Donna. We're going." He replied a bit harshly whilst strutting towards the Police Box, Donna in tow. _What's the matter with me? Why am I so scared? It's just a dream. It's just a dream. It's **not** real. It **can't** be._

"Oi! Don't you talk to me like that, spaceman! Those were real people! Real people, Doctor. Aren't you going to find out what happened to them?" Donna inquired suspiciously but David kept marching forward.

"No." He said simply, reaching out to the blue door of the space-time machine. Using the sonic as a key, David pushed the doors to open but to no avail, they didn't budge.

"No no no! Not now! Don't do this to me!" David yelled, banging his hands on the wooden doors. David was suddenly thrown back as a sharp irritated noise poked at his head.

"Ah! What the hell was that?!" He cursed, hands holding his head in pain. As soon as it dissipated, David noticed something faint at the back of his head. It was almost like a humming in his mind, not irritating but actually rather soothing. _A song must be playing at the moment while I'm sleeping._

"Doctor, are you alright?" Donna asked sympathetically, helping the ruffled Time Lord get back upon his feet.

"Yeah yeah. I'm fine. Just a little headache." He answered in disregard. David took a deep breathe in order to think.

"Well, the TARDIS seems to not want us in at the moment which is kind of unlucky for us because it's not safe here. There's option one: we stay here until she quits being stubborn. Which might be a while. Option two: I wake up now, which I kinda am favouring at the moment because this dream seems to never end! I like option two. Maybe we should just stick with that-oh but wait. We can't! Because for some reason my mind wants me to stay asleep forever! So that leaves option three which is..." David trailed off as he noticed the desk lights at the reception flicking off. In a momentary stroke of panic, he grabbed Donna's hand and rushed off to a door on his right, dragging his companion along with him.

"Run!" He yelled as he sprinted through the doors. Once he entered the corridor of shelves, he desperately slammed the doors behind him and his companion.

"What the hell was that for?!" The annoyed ginger woman shouted, still huffing from the unexpected sprint.

"The lights were going out which means that room was becoming infected or already was." David explained, not as puffed as Donna from the run.

"Infected? Are you telling me that we were running away from a _power cut_?" She raised to David in an incredulous manner.

"Yep. And we're about to do it again. Quick! Allons-y!" He commanded as he saw the row of overhead lights shutting down one by one through the corridor. They ran hand in hand, sprinting down the shelves of books, away from the growing darkness until they came across a door to the right.

"It's jammed!" David yelled as he attempted to push the door. He pulled back then looked at Donna.

"On three, we kick. Ready?" David ordered. Donna gave a silent nod.

"One." _Please let me wake up soon._

"Two." _Why can't I just go home?_

"Three!" _This is no longer a dream. It's a terror._

The doors bursted open as the duo kicked and immediately they ran inside, its entrance awaiting an adventure, a story...

A nightmare.

**AN: And that's that! Next chapter will come soon. So since you guys have been reviewing and everything I thought at the end of each chapter I might ask a question for you guys to answer. I see fanfiction authors do this all the time and I think it's a great way to interact with the followers of the story. So! Here's the question:**

**"What was the weirdest or most vivid dream you have ever had?"**


	5. Heartless

**AN: Hey guys! Yes I'm still alive. It's just really hard finding time to write now that I'm back at school, but I am trying my best and I will not give up on this story. It's my baby. So I'm sorry if the updates are a bit late but I'm doing the best I can. Anyway! On a lighter note! This chapter is DOUBLE the size than it usually is, that's why it took so long to write it and now time for replying to my reviewers!**

**ThatBigBlueBox that dream must've been horrible! Weeping Angels are some scary ass villains. They are one of my favourites though!**

**fastreader12 it's alright! I usually can't remember most of my dreams, but thanks for the lovely comment!**

**Hobbit Wizard Thank you for the lovely review! And yes you do have weird dreams. I mean, a pencil? Really wow!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters, unfortunately, there's an age limit to own a show...so imma go cry in my pillow.**

_"You! Why are you here?!" He gasped in horror and terror, as he stared into the eyes of the person who killed millions and destructed whole planets. It was him. The Doctor. No, not the Doctor. Never the Doctor!_

_The Warrior._

_Destroyer of Gallifrey._

The Doctor stared into his eyes; hatred, loathing, despair pouring all out in one glare. His blood was boiling. He couldn't think rationally, not with _him_ being right there in front of him.

"You shouldn't be here." He spat out, his words tasting like the bitter flavour of vinegar and sourness of a lemon. Sharp daggers were still pointed at the wrinkled face of an old thespian; his eyes conveying nothing but confusion. The old man's eyebrows rose considerably.

"Pardon me?" He responded to the Doctor in disbelief, his voice shaking with age. He looked on at the 'young actor', wondering why his own presence irked the man so much.

The Doctor was now pacing in fear and irritation, fuming at the triggers of memories of his dreadful past. His unforgettable haunts were coming back to strike him. A storm was brewing.

"Alright everyone let's get this scene running! Second part of the dungeon scene. John in position, you've got the first line. David go in between Billie and pillar, now please! David?" The director commanded. The Doctor was still pacing in frustration and hate. _This is not right! _He thought emphatically.

"David!" He didn't listen, ignorant of the fact that the director was calling out to him. His mind was too set on the wrongness of this situation. _Why is past me even here? He shouldn't be here! **Can't** be here!_

"For god's sake David! Will you stop pacing about and listen to me?! You are the Doctor for crying out loud! We kinda need you, preferably sane, or god forgive me this anniversary special will end up in disaster!" Nick roared vehemently. The mention of his name finally got the Doctor's attention. He stopped pacing and snapped his head towards the annoyed director._ I don't remember any of this! How come I don't remember this?_

Nick rolled his eyes.

"Oh, so I've finally got your attention Mr Pop Star. I don't know what's gotten into you David but I need you to buck up and get a move on. We've got a 50th Anniversary to film! So come on! Get into positions!" Nick announced, the Doctor still frozen on spot with being pointed out. _Something's __going on and whatever it is, can't be good. Better keep that low profile and not draw too much attention..._The Doctor thought as he cleared his mind of his raging thoughts and relaxed his tense muscles._ Oh but what a great job you've done so far, Doctor! Really low-key and professional! _He thought sarcastically.

"Okay everyone! We are all set! John be careful on that bench, it's not entirely stable. We found that out the hard way. Okay beautiful! Scene 2 of the Tower Dungeon, take 1 and action!" Everyone suddenly went from bewildered and confused at the Doctor's behaviour, to focused and in character at the sound of a wooden snap. _Oh this should go well! No lines, no sonic, no TARDIS and no idea what's going on. This should all go splendidly_! The Doctor thought sarcastically as he nervously scratched the back of his head and wandered around his assigned position. _Although, if anything, improvisation is what I do best._

The sound of the sonic and rock scraping against rock, echoed throughout the entire room. Silence was amidst in its occupants.

"In theory, I can trigger an isolated sonic shift among the molecules, and the door should disintegrate." The warrior stated suggestively. The Doctor's head immediately snapped to his voice, the words actually making sense to him which in turn provoked him naturally to reply.

"You'd have to calculate the exact harmonic resonance of the entire structure down to a sub-atomic level. Even the sonic would take years." He stated dismissively, then suddenly backtracked. He realised that nobody stopped him or even stared at him like they didn't understand a word he was saying. _Hmm. Must've gotten a line right. This might not be so hard after all._

"No, no, the sonic would take centuries. Oh, we might as well get started. Help to pass the timey-wimey. Do you have to talk like children? What is it that makes you so ashamed of being a grown up? Oh, the way you both look at me. What is that? I'm trying to think of a better word than dread." The warrior asks almost curiously and condescendingly.

The Doctor gulped. _I take that back. That was just a bit of luck at the start. This is going to be hard. Very hard. _

A moment of stillness captured the scene and the Doctor took this as a queue for him to speak. He stared deeply into the eyes of the warrior, body rigid and eyes steely. Realisation suddenly took place in his mind as he took in the words of what the warrior said. _How_ he said it, in particularly.

"It must be really recent for you." The Doctor stated reluctantly, not in favour of the answer or questions likely to come with it.

"Recent?" The warrior questioned, quirking an eyebrow with it.

"The Time War. The last day. The day you killed them all." A new voice penetrated the air. The Doctor nearly jumped out of his skin at the new sound that interrupted suddenly behind him. Nonetheless, he had managed just enough self-control to only flinch to which he then directed his attention to the man with the clipped, somber voice. The Doctor completely forgot that there was even another person in the scene, too focused on the warrior and the girl with the golden hair. He eyed the man with scrutiny.

"The day _we_ killed them all." He said firmly with a tinge of guilt lurking at the edge of his words whilst gesturing to himself and the warrior. As much as he desperately wanted to deny it and put all the blame on one man, it was just as much his fault as it was his past regenerations. It was a day he never forgot and yet, he never looked back. Maybe because the memories on that particular day all just seemed to be a blur...

"Same thing." The man with the disquieting voice replied simply. The Doctor was quite annoyed at the disregarding statement, especially at the clipped, monotone voice that excreted with it.

The man with the voice was quite a queer looking one; complexion pale, eyes sad and tired, decent sized nose, literally no eyebrows and a hell of a chin. The Doctor had never seen him before in his life and yet there was a sense of familiarity present in this particular person. His attire was no weirder than his oddly proportioned face; dark tweed trench coat, maroon waist coat with a golden pocket watch clipped to the side, and then finished with a bowtie proudly and precisely worn. Although, despite its weirdness, the clothes actually suited him quite well. Who was this man? What character could he be representing in the Doctor's life? Is he a future companion? Or maybe a future self? _Nah. It can't be. Why on Earth would I ever look like that? A bowtie? Seriously? _The Doctor thought incredulously.

"It's history for them. All decided. They think their future is real. They don't know it's still up to you." Not-Rose suddenly expressed. The Doctor's head switched instantly to the direction of her voice. It was so smooth and posh; nothing like his pink and yellow human. Nothing at all like it.

"Cut!" The director suddenly shouted. Everyone's attention, including the Doctor's, immediately directed to the director. **(AN: Hehe. See what I did there? No? Oh. Ah. Okay. I just. Better go now :/)**

"David!" The Doctor was caught off guard, staring blankly and innocently at Nick's scolding.

"You're not meant to acknowledge Billie, remember? She's the Moment entity and only John can see and hear her-"

"She's the what?!" The Doctor gasped out in stupor, overlapping Nicks announcement.

"-but besides that, everything else is alright for now. Okay everyone! Back to the start! We're doing another take!" Nick announced as everyone restarted everything and prepared for the next take. The Doctor just stood awkwardly, bouncing up and down on his heels, having no clue what the director just said. His mind was still reeling from the prospect that the not-Rose was playing the Moment. The Moment. _The_ Moment! How do these people know so much about the Time War? He wouldn't of dared to utter a word about it, past or future.

"And action!" The directors voice reverberated in the air. The Doctor quickly snapped out of his daze and went into undercover mode a.k.a acting as himself which in all honesty shouldn't be too hard to do and yet it was being quite a pain in the-

The sound of the sonic and rock scraping against rock, echoed throughout the entire room. Silence was amidst in its occupants.

"In theory, I can trigger an isolated sonic shift among the molecules, and the door should disintegrate." The warrior stated suggestively. The Doctor wandered off all fidgety, stating his next line fluently like it was the back of his hand.

"You'd have to calculate the exact harmonic resonance of the entire structure down to a sub-atomic level. Even the sonic would take years." He stated dismissively, scratching the back of his head.

"No, no, the sonic would take centuries. Oh, we might as well get started. Help to pass the timey-wimey. Do you have to talk like children? What is it that makes you so ashamed of being a grown up? Oh, the way you both look at me. What is that? I'm trying to think of a better word than dread." The old warrior asks almost curiously and condescendingly.

The Doctor gulped. He still didn't like this part. Not. One. Bit.

"It must be really recent for you." He stated reluctantly.

"Recent?" The warrior questioned, eyebrow rising.

"The Time War. The last day. The day you killed them all." The mystery man with the voice stated quickly and sombrely.

The Doctor quickly cut in.

"The day _we_ killed them all." He expressed firmly, once again irritated by the tone of the man's voice.

"Same thing." The man rudely stated. The Doctor couldn't stand his presence and started to wander away, pacing around the set.

"It's history for them. All decided. They think their future is real. They don't know it's still up to you." Not-Rose expressed. It took all of the Doctor's self-control to fight off the instinct to follow her voice. _You cannot look. You cannot look._ He repeated the mantra in his head. Even if it wasn't really her, he still longed for her all the same. _But the Moment? Why is she the Moment? It just doesn't make any sense!_

"I don't talk about it." The warrior said shamefully. The Doctor scoffed, thinking of himself; how he speaks but never talks, never anything important or personal for that matter.

"'Course you don't talk about it. There's no one else anymore." He remarks drily, but with pain clearly evident in his voice. An awkward silence ensued, with only the sound of scraping reverberating throughout the dungeon.

"Go on, ask them. Ask them what you need to know." The sound of a delicate, smooth voice of the blonde woman in rags echoed quietly. She was now all of sudden next to the warrior. _You cannot look. You cannot look._

"Did you ever count?" The warrior's voice strained out.

"Count what?" The mystery man immediately asked in a nonchalant tone.

"How many children there were on Gallifrey that day."

The air in the room suddenly became thick, as the answer echoed in the ears of its receivers. The sound of chiselling stopped. The Doctor's pacing froze. His blood both boiled and chilled in a painful circulation. He couldn't move, couldn't speak; his emotions were ravaging every sense. Then a voice replied, but it wasn't his.

"I have absolutely no idea." The mystery man stated before going back to his chiselling. The Doctor's eyes immediately snapped to him. His eyes pierced into the back of the bowtie-wearing man. The Doctor feared whom this man really was. _No. It can't be. It can't be him. _

Penny in the air.

He didn't want to know the answer.

"How old are you now?" The warrior asked curiously.

"Ah, I don't know. I lose track. Twelve hundred and something, I think, unless I'm lying. I can't remember if I'm lying about my age, that's how old I am."

And the penny drops.

The Doctor's eyes widened, his fists clenched as he heard that familiar tone of voice; that tone of guilt, of tiredness and age. Those eyes so deep with sorrow and loss; it was him. This gangly, rude, unfashionable man was **future him. **_Well, still rude and __not ginger then._

"Four hundred years older than me, and in all that time you've never even wondered how many there were? You never once counted?" The warrior questioned in disbelief.

The future Doctor all of sudden ripped away from his scribing and turned sharply towards the warrior, face set like a cold stone.

"Tell me, what would be the point?" He replied coldly and irritatingly.

The Doctors face contorted to one of shock, disgust and shame. His head was exploding with hot thoughts and angry voices. The revulsion of himself tripled in its quantity.

"Two point four seven billion." The Doctor remarked, his voice blazing with hatred towards the man mirroring him. His teeth were clenched, eyes sizzling into the skull of his future regeneration.

"You did count!" The warrior exclaim quizzically. The Doctor didn't listen or rather couldn't hear with the blood pumping heavily in the veins of his ears. The rage he felt for his future self for forgetting something like _that_ was relentless.

"You forgot? Four hundred years, is that all it takes? To become a selfish, inconsiderate monster like you?" He roared with disgust seeping on every word.

"I moved on." The future Doctor uttered, with anger and offence edging to his voice.

"Moved on? Is that what we're calling it now? Moved on from where? What could you have possibly done, possibly _seen_ to forget something like _that_?" The Doctor counteracted frustratingly.

"Spoilers." Future him muttered quickly.

"Spoilers? Spoilers! What's that even suppose to mean? No. I want to know where I'm heading to become something like you!" The Doctor demanded coldly as he suddenly shoved his future self against the stone pillar, face right up to face with noses almost touching. His future self gasped in shock. The Doctor's intense stare and snarling mouth was demanding answers and was having none of it. His future self's expression suddenly contorted to one of shock and fear, body trembling and breath shaking. The sudden change of composure confused the Doctor. This didn't seem like him. Not like him at all.

"Cut! David what the hell are you doing?!" The director shrieked in confusion. The Doctor suddenly leapt back from his threatening stance, like ice cold water had been thrown down his back. His attention immediately drew towards the director, face looking like a fish caught out of water. The Doctor got so caught up in the scene that he actually forgot that it wasn't real. That it was all fake, just his life being played by actors. And yet the Doctor was starting to question if they were really actors at all...

"This is all wrong! Everything here is so wrong!" The Doctor exclaimed in frustration, hands tugging at his heavily gelled hair, arms flanging all about in random directions. He finally snapped. He couldn't keep up this undercover role thing. With the combination of the reminders to his personal past and the likeliness of appearance between his friends and the actors, the Doctor was riled up and was becoming incredibly hot with anger. His breathing became heavier and resolve wearing thin. Everyone stared at the distressed man in worry, silenced by the tension that he was making.

"You're wrong!" The Doctor shouted accusingly at the distressed floppy haired actor.

"You're wrong!" He accused, pointing blatantly at the old man with hard leather clothing.

"You're wrong!" Yelling at the not-Rose in rags.

"All of this is wrong! The TV show! The actors! The props! Everything!" He shouted like a lion towards the audience gathered, as they watched what was thought to be an 'actor's breakdown'.

The Doctor suddenly came to complete stop in his tantrum as realisation dawned upon him. His face turned to a blank sheet of white. Frozen.

"Even I-I feel wrong. My time senses, my smell, touch, taste, hearing, sight...they're all...they're all..." He gasped out, face turning paler if possible. The Doctor slowly raised his hand to his chest, almost hesitant to find the unanswered question in his mind. The daunting prospect in what he very well knew to come. There was no other explanation to this feeling he's been having. He hadn't really noticed it, too busy problem solving, worrying, confronting faces of his past, to recognise the numbness within him; the dullness of his empty mind, the sense of loss wracking his body and the hollow space consuming his chest. His hand hit his breast.

_Thump. Thump._

_Thump. Thump._

"They all gone...dulled...numb." He whispered in heartache.

One heart. One singular heart beating in his chest.

He was human. _A stupid ape._

"How did this happen?" He breathed out.

He frantically dug into his pockets searching for something round and shiny. Something that should change his physiology back to his usual self, only to come up short and find out another disappointing thing; his pockets were smaller on the inside. _Oh, brilliant! Just brilliant! What else is there to surprise me, huh? Another wife I don't know of? Children I haven't got a clue about?_

"Why am I human? How did I even become human in the first place? Last time I checked, I was on the TARDIS heading to the Library because I got a message to go there. So why am I here? When did this all happen? And that's another thing..." He ranted as he began to gesture all around him, pacing back and forth around the set.

"...A TV show?! About me?! My life?! For entertainment?! So that's all what you little humans do; drink your tea, eat some chips, sit on your couch and watch **me** on the telly! I mean I'm flattered, truly..." He scorned sharply, sarcasm dripping on his words. "...yeah, no. This is my life and your just broadcasting it to the entire planet! My secrets, my personal life, my grief...Haven't you ever heard of a thing called privacy?! But it's not just all this which angers me. Sure, you've displayed my broken life for entertainment in a span of fifty years and in a way have mocked me of my existence! But the thing I hate, the thing that gets to me...is _them_." He sneers angrily, pointing at the blonde actress and the old sci-fi actor, both of whom were standing, frozen in perplexity.

"Not only have you stripped me of my privacy and dignity, but you have manipulated the people around me. People that affect my life greatly; my lost companion and my past self. My past haunts...And those people that 'play' them are not just actors, are they? They're not just some look-a-likes playing the characters in my life. No. They're something more. They don't just sorta look the same, they look _exactly_ alike. Which means that you've gone and done something to them. The _real_ them. What is it, then? Brainwash? Memory wipe? Cloning? Flesh duplication? Hypnotism? Cos you see I don't know how you have managed to capture them nor what your purpose is in doing so, but I do know this. I will stop you. I will stop whatever your planning because whatever it is, it can't be any good. I may have no sonic, no TARDIS, no superior physiology, but I will defeat you! They don't call me the Oncoming Storm for nothing. And you've done the unthinkable. You've made it personal and that means nothing can stop me. So come on! You've got my attention! Now show yourselves! Tell me what you're hiding!" By the time his dramatic speech finished, his chest was heaving, eyes manic and teeth was clenched in a mad-like smile. Everyone in the room was frozen, absolutely gobsmacked at the massive show that the Doctor had just put on.

The director slowly walked up to the Doctor, the Doctor staring intently at his approaching movements. Once Nick reached the Doctor, he put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I think that's quite enough, David. Why don't you go home, have a rest and tend that wife of yours, alright? I don't think your fit enough for work today." He suggested to the Doctor delicately. The Doctor did nothing to show that was he was calming down any time soon, his body still rigid and stiff.

"Wife?" The Doctor exclaimed in disbelief. You would think that there wouldn't be anything else to shock him with the day he was having.

"Yes. Your wife, Georgia. Now come on, I'll get someone to escort you." Nick put gently, trying not to provoke the Doctor's 'mental state'.

"Wait. What? No! You tell me right now what is going on or your going to suffer the consequences. No second chances." The Doctor stated dangerously with a warning.

"Yes. Well I was afraid that I would have to this but I guess it just has to be done. Sorry for this. Trent! George!" Nick exclaimed, as he turned to the Doctor with apologetic eyes. All of a sudden two tall, muscly men came up behind the Doctor and grabbed him tightly by the arms.

"Hey! What is this suppose to be?!" The Doctor shouted out as he struggled in the arms of the strong men. _Human bodies. Useless! _He thought annoyingly in his head.

"Your escorts." Nick replied simply. The Doctor was not amused, glaring daggers at the director.

"Trent. George. Please escort Mr Tennant to his car and send him home, and make sure he doesn't have another breakdown. Blimey. Good luck to Georgia. She'll be needing it." Nick commanded, mind still in disbelief at the actor's behaviour. This was so out of character for him!

Both of the muscly men nodded as they started to drag the lankly man in the pinstriped suit out of the tower. The Doctor's protests echoed throughout the set, slowly diminishing as he got further away. Everyone in the room was in a state of stupefaction, not knowing how to move, how to speak or rather _what_ to speak. It was like time slowed down in that one silent moment of reflection to what had actually just happened.

"Right. Well I think that's over, now. Sorry everyone, I guess that's a wrap for today." Nick announced breaking the silence. Then suddenly time went back to its normal state as everyone moved to pack up and go home.

* * *

The trip 'home', for the Doctor, wasn't exactly pleasant. In fact, it wasn't enjoyable for any occupant in the car.

The Doctor attempted escape in an exact total of 9 times, the last one ending up with him handcuffed to the car door. _Where did they even find the handcuffs? Are they some sort of magicians or something? Well isn't that wizard...  
_

The Doctor's thoughts were interrupted as the car's momentum came to a slow stop out the front of your every day average domestic house. If not, a bit larger than every day average. _So this_ _must be my 'home', I take it..._

"Yes it is Mr Tennant." The driver answered. _Oops. Must've said that out loud._

"Yes. Right. So? Handcuffs?" The Doctor suggested, lifting his hands to gesture the removal of the metal contraption. One of the men, Kent was it? The Doctor liked to call him Mr Thickhead instead. He reached over to unlock the cuffs that were restricting the Doctor's hands.

"What is it with humans and their fondness of handcuffs?" The Doctor offhandedly remarked, the question being left in the air with nothing but strange expressions from Mr Thickhead and his accomplice, Mr Nobrain to answer.

"No? Nothing? Well aren't you two a bunch of chatterboxes." The Doctor said just so something could be said. He hated silence, just as much as he hated pears. Silence leads to thinking, which the Doctor does do a lot but usually when he needs a plan to save the world or think of ways to add new settings to his sonic or repair something in the TARDIS. But silence provokes a different sort of thinking; thoughts of the past, his horrible, treacherous past. The Time War. Lost companions. Mistakes he's made. People he never saved. The lot.

No. He definitely didn't like silence. It was worst than pears...almost.

The handcuffs finally came off, relieving his sore _human_ wrists. The door to the car opened and the Doctor immediately took that opportunity to run, only to be seized by Mr Nobrain's massive hands.

"Okay! Alright. Alright. I get the idea. I won't run off. So if I can just..." He trailed off as he moved forward, in which he immediately got pulled back again.

"Look! I can walk to my own house, okay? I'm not some mental psychopathic being or some piece fragile glass. So basically I'm saying...sod off!" He stated irritatingly, shoving his hands away and giving the two idiots a filthy look. The men reluctantly scurried off, grabbing their phones from their pockets to call someone to pick them up. The Doctor shook his head, ran a hand through his hair and straightened out his suit which he only just realised was his brown suit instead of the blue one he put on earlier..._Well that's another thing to add to the 'wrong list'._

The Doctor stared painfully at the overly domestic house, having an inner debate on whether to just cut his losses and run, or buck up and check out this 'family' of his. Curiosity eventually won out and he headed towards the door. _Curiosity killed the cat. Oh how many times that's been true._ The Doctor thought amusingly.

He knocked on the door. He waited, hands in pockets.

It opened.

"Oh hey love! You're early today! Oh and did you forget your key again? I swear I should just tie it to your wrist. That or make you a sonic screwdriver...Uh honey? Why are you still standing outside? Come in before you catch a cold." A young looking blonde babbled on. A _very familiar_ looking blonde young woman.

"Jenny?" He gasped out in longing, his eyes wide and glazing over.

She tilted her head in confusion, a frown furrowing on her face.

"Are you alright love?" She asked as she gave his tense body a hug and gave him a quick peck on the lips. The Doctor's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he tore out of the embrace and took a massive leap back.

"What?!" He shrieked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. All too suddenly the Doctor's eyes landed on his daughter's _swollen_ abdomen.

"You're _pregnant_?!"

**AN: Hehehehe! I'm so evil. Now! Question time!:**

**"Have you ever been arrested or questioned by police, and if so, how and why did it happen?**


	6. Life Is But A Dream

**AN: Hey guys! Sorry about the slow update but guess what! My prelims are done! I'm in my final year of high school now. Woohoo! School holidays are on at the mo' so that should allow plenty of time for me to write. So luckily for you, updates may come faster and more regularly. Thanks everyone for all the kind reviews and all the followers. I didn't expect such a great response to this story but I'm so heart warmed because of it. Also, do you guys like the new cover to the story, I designed it myself after getting extremely bored with being home bound because of sickness. By the way, if any of you guys are dark doctor fans, I seriously recommend a story that my friend has posted. It's called "Living in Flames" by DoesItSaySassOnMyUniform. Only a few chapters have been put up but her writing is absolutely amazing and very feelsy. Have a look! She'll greatly appreciate it. Anyway! On to the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its creations nor do I own any of the actors which is a shame because how cool would it be to have your own personal David Tennant. *Sigh***

"_It's jammed!" David yelled as he attempted to push the door. He pulled back then looked at Donna._

_"On three, we kick. Ready?" David ordered. Donna gave a silent nod._

_"One." _Please let me wake up soon.

_"Two." _Why can't I just go home?

_"Three!" _This is no longer a dream. It's a terror.

_The doors bursted open as the duo kicked and immediately they ran inside, its entrance awaiting an adventure, a story..._

_A nightmare._

David slammed the doors like his life depended on it, almost jamming the fingers of his ginger companion in the process.

"Oi! Watch it!" She roared like a fierce lioness irritated at the stupidity of an idiotic baboon. David ignored her complaint, grabbing the closest book he could find and shoving it in the door handles to jam the entrance.

"Right. That should do it." He said, nodding his head, heart-er _hearts_ pumping with adrenaline. He took a glance at Donna's fierce gaze. David stared back blankly in reaction with fear edging his body.

"What? Is there something behind me?" He asked panicky, turning around frantically with quick jerky movements while surveying the room for any ominous signs. The sight of him was one of amusement as he looked like a manic puppy chasing his tail round and round in circles. Despite the humour in the image, Donna was still not amused at the reckless actions that the barmy alien took to close the doors.

"You. Are. Mental! Like _completely_ alien, more so today than usual." She muttered the last part suspiciously. The most important woman in the universe stared imploringly at David, as if expecting him to say something. Unfortunately, what he had to say did not pass with flying colours in Donna's opinion.

"Uh-well...I don't know what you mean by that but anyway there's no time to discuss it." He stated as he dashed away to avoid the potentially terrifying rant that would come from the woman. His attention was immediately consumed by the security camera that was hovering in the middle of the room. It was almost an almost automatic reflex as David reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the sonic screwdriver to investigate. _It's funny how some old character habits never die out._

"Hello. It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. Just stay there and don't open your eyes." David commanded softly as he slowly approached the alive device.

Donna rolled her eyes in exasperation. _Honestly he has the attention span of a pea, can't even hold a thought for more than two seconds!_ She thought irritably.

"Oi! Spaceman! Do you even know what you just did a minute ago? You could've blinkin took my hand! I could've been handless! Handless!" The fiery redhead thundered, like the utter thought of losing a hand was bile on her tongue. The security camera suddenly shutdown and hit the ground with a thud leaving David vastly disappointed and irritated.

"Oh Donna, why did you have to go and do that for?" He whined as he picked up the chunky camera to find a way to open it again. He muttered under his breath as he tried to remember how the Doctor got the camera working.

Donna narrowed her eyes at him for the lack of empathy he was showing towards her. She breathed out through her nose as she tried to expel the thoughts of ways to punch that egotistical head of his.

"-and she just blunders in with her loud mouth and scares it away-" The muttering pretty much became incomprehensible to Donna after that as she found it hard to not rip that fantastic hair off his skull and watch him scream while taunting him on who was the loud mouth after all. But fortunately (or unfortunately depending on whose point of view), she reigned control and went through her calming techniques. She clenched her fists, closed her eyes and shook off the ideas of killing him. _He is your best friend. He is your best friend. He is your arrogant, pompous, rude and self-righteous best friend. But he is still your best friend. Your only friend-_

"Donna, you alright?"

Her eyes snapped open. She looked down at him, his face concerned and eyebrows all scrunched up in worry. Her eyes softened at his melting brown eyes that made even her a bit forgiving, but that still didn't prevent the Donna Noble bite that slipped slightly in her tone when she answered him.

"Yeah. Fine."

He nodded his head in a reluctant fashion, almost confused on her slight sarcasm and then went back down to work on the security camera, tongue stuck to the root of his mouth in concentration. Donna moved forward and sat down beside him with a sigh.

"It wasn't even my fault, you know." She defended calmly. David turned to her and raised his eyebrow at her questionably; a statement that said he didn't quite believe that. Man she wished she could wipe that know-it-all expression off his face. _He is your best friend. He is your best friend..._

"Oh shut it. It wasn't." She snipped.

"Was." He replied childishly then turned back to the security camera trying to work out the sonic.

She glared.

"Wasn't." She retorted.

"Was."

"Wasn't."

"You shouted." He stated simply as if it resolved the whole debate.

"Yeah because you nearly broke my hand! Doesn't make it my fault that you're completely reckless and ignorant."

"You're still going on about that?"

"It was my hand!"

"Yes and it looks perfectly fine to me. No harm done. Now will you shut your gob let me get on with this?" He rudely commanded as he started to get irritated by the constant banter. _That's weird. Since when did I become rude and not ginger? _He thought, slightly taken back at the way he was acting. Too much like the Doctor for his liking. He looked down at the confusing technology in his lap. Or maybe not enough of him. He sighed and went back to working out the devices.

He looked down at the sonic screwdriver closely. It was strange. He's seen and used this regularly before, as a prop obviously, but the complexity of it as he looked closely was way beyond him. It was heavier too and the components of it were slightly different than the prop he usually uses. For one, there was a sort of mini-screen on the side and different sorts of switches and buttons which he guessed created different settings by pressing them in some sort of sequence. Even the light at the end hardly look like a light at all but rather some sort of strange crystal or rock. All in all, he had no idea how to work it. _Just another thing weird about this dream. Why would I make up something this complex? If I'm dreaming about being the Doctor, shouldn't I be able to use the sonic?_ It was starting to madden him. Everything about this felt entirely wrong. The clarity and realism of the dream was starting to get on his nerves. It was bad enough that he hadn't woken up yet let alone starting to confuse reality and fantasy... _No. Stop that thinking. It's just a dream. I'll wake up soon and this will all be over._

"So tell me again why we ran away from faulty lights?" Donna asked curiously. David was about to answer her but was distracted as words started flashing across the small round security camera. He jumped up on his feet with excitement.

"Oh yes! Finally. Progress!" He exclaimed as he read the words that he knew were to appear. He was relieved that the events were going as he knew them but anxious to face what he knew what was to come. Hopefully he wouldn't have to at all and wake up before they all happened. But then again, that would just be too easy. Life was never that easy.

Donna got up from the floor and went behind David to look over his shoulder so that she could see what he's so interested in.

"Others are coming?" She read aloud, confusion evident in her tone.

"Mmhm." David replied, putting the camera down and pocketing the sonic as he looked around the room, waiting for a certain expedition team to pop out anytime soon.

"Others. What's it mean others?" Donna asked thoughtfully as she wandered around the room until she finally spotted an information node on the side.

"Huh?" David replied distractedly, rubbing his ear as he turned towards Donna.

"Excuse me. What does it mean, others?" Donna questioned as she approached the turning node. David snapped into action as he realised what Donna was doing and what she would find out doing so. _But why do I even care? It's just a dream._

"Ah. Donna, don't worry about it. Besides, they're not really much help anyway." David tried to persuade.

"So why's it got a face?" She asked, both out of curiosity and as a retort. David groaned as he realised that he couldn't now stop her from finding out, as the node had already went and answered for her.

"This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death."

Donna's eyes widened dramatically.

"It's a real face?" She gasped out in disbelief, turning her head frantically to David then back at the node.

"It has been actualised individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks. Please enjoy."

David walked up uncomfortably to Donna knowing how she wouldn't handle this very well.

"It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like? That's statue's got a real dead person's face on it." Donna rambled in panic and hysteria. David put a comforting arm around her to calm her down.

"Shh. Shh. It's okay. It's the fifty first century. That's basically like donating a park bench." He said soothingly, hoping in some way that her panic diminishes.

"It's donating a face!" She exclaimed as she stumbled back, creating distance from the disturbing thing. David immediately saw where she was heading to; a shadow.

"No, wait! No!" He warned desperately as he leaped from his spot and grabbed Donna by the waist to pull her forward.

"Oi. Hands." She squeaked, smacking his hands away.

"You and your hand problems." David muttered as he cautiously guided her away from the shadow.

"Oi. Don't get cheeky with me alien boy." Donna warned. Despite this dream and despite how sometimes irritating Donna could get, he loved the moments that reminded him of how much Catherine reflects her character. A twitch of a smile formed as he thought of the spunky woman and how much they got on and bounced off each other when they worked. _It's a shame that she wasn't a part of the 50th. It would've been super fun to catch up with her, extremely entertaining she was. She would've been a whole new element in the process. _David was knocked out of his thoughts as he remembered the situation he was in and the danger approaching.

"The shadow behind you. Look." David instructed Donna.

"What about it?" She asked quietly as a shiver went up her spine. Something felt wrong about that shadow. She didn't know what but there was something ominous about it, something absolutely terrifying.

"Where'd it come from?" He asked lowly, body completely still. Every single nerve in his body were in paralytic shock. The hairs on the back of his neck standing on ends as a chill swept past him and he shivered in reaction. Only the inhalation and exhalation of his breathing showed any indication of movement as his chest heaved up and down slowly. _It's just a dream. It's just a dream. A very terrible dream. _His mind shouted at him but his body wouldn't listen.

"What do you mean where it came from? It's a shadow!" She answered, a bit frightened of how scared David was looking

"Yeah but what's casting it?" He questioned as his voice rasped with fear. They were coming. He paced back and forth, hands tugging and running through his hair in stress. _Wake up. Wake up. Wake up!_

"Doctor! What do you mean wake up?" Donna exclaimed wildly. David stopped his pacing and stood still like a bucket of ice water had just poured all over him. He turned his head slowly towards Donna.

"Uh...Did I say that out loud?" He asked alarmed. Donna nodded.

"More like muttered but it was still weird and creepy nonetheless. Wake up how?" Donna questioned cautiously, as if David was a wild animal ready to dash at the slightest wrong sound or movement.

"Nothing. Doesn't matter. I'm alright. You're alright. We're alive. Molto bene!" He rambled guiltily as he started pacing back and forth again.

Donna looked on in concern. Something was definitely wrong with the Doctor. He seemed more...madder than usual or out of it somehow. The whole day he'd been acting strange with that whole Scottish accent and the gerbil vortex thingy-majig. She just hoped that he would get over it soon.

"Doctor. That shadow. It's gone." She uttered with apprehension lacing her voice.

David reacted quickly, storming to where the shadow once was. His moves were jerky and sharp as the constant fear stiffened his muscles. _Damn you Moffat and your twisted sense of imagination! _He cursed bitterly in his thoughts.

"Donna. That shadow's not gone. It moved." He stated as he raced around the edges of light, feeling more trapped then he had ever felt in his life. This terrible nightmare was consuming him whole. The darkness crept slowly around his soul as the light of hope was diminishing and he felt completely stuck in this cruel fantasy. The desire to wake up, to see proper light was bursting in his heart-uh-hearts..._oh forget it_...he thought tiredly. Why did his body disobey him so much? All he wanted to do was wake up. He craved it. _I wonder if this is what people in comas feel like. Feeling so alone and so trapped; it's awful. Being so close to your loved ones and yet so far away in the mind. It's torture..._

"Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming..." The node repetitively enunciated as it's voice echoed throughout the entire room.

"Doctor, what does it mean by others?" Donna queried David as the fear of not knowing captured her heart. David woke up from his lost thoughts and held his gaze with Donna. He took in a deep breath then shuddered it out.

"I think we're about to find out..." He stated enigmatically, eyes darting quickly to the door that he knew was just about to burst open by archaeologists in spacesuits.

A bang from a small explosion that reverberated through the air. The doors suddenly swung open and a light blinded it's viewers. David and Donna ducked and jumped back at the explosion then stood frozen as they watched people in weird spacesuits walking in. Dust picked up from the ground as the group of space explorers marched slowly towards the centre of the room; their faces hidden by the dark helmets on their spacesuits. One by one they entered the room with the sound of mechanical breathing taunting the duo with a whisper at the back of their necks. Donna shivered from the sudden draft and the daunting group of figures approaching. One lead in front of them as they followed in a straight line. They were getting closer and closer to Donna and David. Donna held her breath unconsciously. The leader was now toe and toe with David and reaching up to the back of their helmet. They pushed a button and suddenly the dark screen on the helmet disappeared and in its place the face of a woman with a cheerful smirk.

"Hello sweetie." She greeted, voice slightly muffled and distorted from the spacesuit. Donna tilted her head in confusion. Sweetie? Did the Doctor know her?

"Professor River Song." David greeted back simply. He thought of going along with events as they were suppose to but realised that it's just a dream and he could do whatever the hell he wanted to. Besides it would be way easier and quicker to skip the all the arguments and trust issues. That way he could to get on with the problem at hand and get the dream over and done with.

River's smile grew wider if possible at the mention of her name. He knew her. She was so afraid that this might of been it; the end, her final meeting and his first acquaintance. The last time she'd been with the Doctor he had a sort of heaviness and a deep loathing for something or someone; she was guessing himself as it was always that way. _Such self-hatred in that man._ She thought exasperatedly. But, that wasn't what worried her from their last meeting. No, it was the sadness and resignation that scared her. He was saying goodbye to her, but it didn't matter anymore. She had been wrong. This wasn't the final time in seeing him. Oh, she had never been more happy at being wrong in her entire life than at that moment. The loop would go on as usual. The life of a time traveller.

"Doctor." She replied back to him, hope and joy definitely evident in her voice.

"You know her?" A voice interrupted incredulously. River turned towards the voice and found a fair skinned woman with ginger hair standing next to David. She's his companion obviously but she didn't know which one...Oh well, she'll find out soon enough.

"Yep. I do." David stated simply to Donna, being incredibly vague without meaning to.

"Pop your helmets off, everyone. We've got breathers." The professor instructed her team. They all started taking them off except for one.

"How do you know they're not androids?" A young dark woman asked cautiously. River smirked with a know-it-all smile as she started to take her helmet off.

"Because I've dated androids..." She replied, helmet fully off and shaking her wild hair. "They're rubbish." She continued. A man walked up to River Song, agitation very evident in his stance.

"Who is this? You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives." The middle aged man complained in irritation.

"I lied. I'm always lying. Bound to be others." She replied quickly and disregarding. The man walked away from her and headed to a young brunette girl.

"Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts." He commanded. The girl nodded quickly then went looking in her bag. David rolled his eyes at the mention of the contracts then stiffened when he saw River walking up to him.

"You came from the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?" She asked conversationally. David drew in a breath as he went straight to the point with no dilly-dallying.

"Look, River. We have to find some way out of here. This library is not safe, we're trapped in a small room with hardly any light and then there's the people saved into the data core drive who we have to somehow figure out how to get out and alive, not to mention while having to do all this we have to avoid flesh-eating aliens that live in the shadows-wait. Stop right there!" David shouted suddenly through his ramble as he spotted one of the archaeologists starting to walk into one of the shadows. What was her name again? Something starting with an 'A'.

"Ah...what was your name again? Abby, Andy, Anna. Oh I remember! **Anita**!" He exclaimed in an excited shout, proud of himself for remembering her name. Everyone else look on in silence; their eyes wide and face completely baffled.

"How the hell did you know that?" Anita challenged warily, shock apparent in her voice from how David knew her name.

David's excited phase slowly dropped as he rubbed his neck sheepishly to try and think of an explanation.

"Yes. How did you know that, _Doctor_?" River reaffirmed accusingly, her eyes narrowing and arms crossed. David stepped back a bit from the woman and her staring daggers.

"Um, uh. You see-didn't you uh...lucky guess?" He stuttered out pathetically. River was almost amused how speechless that question rendered him. It was always entertaining to watch him squirm but in this case she was curious and very suspicious of his behaviour and knowledge.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter. What does matter right now is that everybody stays out of the shadows; not a foot, not a finger. Don't even let your own shadows cross each other, any one of them could be infected. Got it?" David instructed fiercely to every single being in the room. Everyone was quiet, staring at the Time Lord weirdly as David looked on at each person.

"Oh come on. If you understood a word I said, you should look scared, very very scared..." He looked around there faces once more and saw again how they weren't comprehending what he was trying to get across. "No. Bit more scared than that. Oh okay, that'll do for now." David finished off quickly as he realised there was no point continuing with all the awkward silence and tension in the room.

River smiled. Yep. Still the same melodramatic Time Lord she knew. She was still curious though about how he knew Anita's name, but she just buried that in her mind for a more opportune time to investigate.

"Okay. First things first, do any of you have any lights, any torches?" David asked as he went round the room and checked the corridors to see if any of them still had any light.

"What for?" River asked.

"To form a circle, a safe area as big as you can with the lights pointing outwards." David instructed as he came back to the middle of the room after seeing that the corridors were all dark. When River saw that nobody listened to him, she intervened.

"Oi. Do as he says." She commanded.

"You're not listening to this man?" The middle aged man asked incredulously.

"Apparently I am. Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure, then help Anita. Mister Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access the library database. See what you can find about what happened here a hundred years ago. Pretty boy, you're with me. Step into my office." Professor River Song ordered professionally assuming her leader position. Mister Lux grumbled at her commands.

"Miss Evangelista?" He asked her knowingly before he went to put his helmet on. Miss Evangelista nodded knowing what she had to do and went up to Donna and David with forms in her hands.

"I'm Mister Lux's personal everything. You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experience inside the library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation." She stuttered along trying to remember each word whilst trying to not be intimidated by the looks everyone was giving her.

"Right. Give it here." David boringly ordered.

"Yeah lovely. Thanks." Donna said with fake cheer. Miss Evangelista handed the forms to them quickly but as soon as it got put in their hands they were torn apart. Miss Evangelista just awkwardly backed away and Mister Lux became extremely offended.

"My family built this library. I have rights." He argued in disdain from underneath his helmet.

"You have a mouth that won't stop. So shut it." River replied sassily. Mister Lux gave out an angry breath then calmed down.

"Professor Song, why am I the only one wearing my helmet?" Mister Lux asked with annoyance. She turned his way and gave a cheeky grin, one that almost looked that she's about to burst in a fit of laughter.

"I don't fancy you." River explained almost with a chuckle. Lux sighed in irritation and took off his helmet.

David rolled his eyes at that answer. Don't any of them know the definition of danger?

"Pretty boy. With me I said." River commanded as she headed to a secluded desk with light. David did a double take and then realisation hit.

"Oh. Right. I'm pretty boy." He breathed out comically.

"Yes. Ooo. That came out a bit quick." Donna commented to the side.

"Pretty?" David whined, not very much liking that description.

"Meh." Came the dismissive reply from his ginger companion. David tilted his head and breathed out through his nose as he went to go see River. As he approached her little secluded spot, he sat down on the chair and observed her as she got her book out. He kept in mind of all the shadows around him and was wary of touching any darkness.

"Thanks." River said as she searched through her diary.

"For what?" David asked. River stared back up at him.

"The usual. For coming when I call." She replied simply. David gave a nod and looked over at the diary trying to get a curious peek.

"Uh uh uh. No peeking mister." River abruptly stated, shutting the book and holding it to her chest. David's expression looked like one of a child being caught with their hand halfway down the cookie jar.

"Yes. Right. Sorry." He muttered, a bit disappointed that he didn't get to see anything.

"Okay, shall we do diaries then? Where are we this time? Er, going by your face I'd say it's early days for you, yeah? So, er, crash of the byzantium. Have we done that yet?" She questioned flipping through her diary. David ran his hands down his face in weariness.

"Honestly River, I haven't done those things." He commented tiredly. River kept on going not realising what he actually meant.

"Okay then. Oh, picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet?" River asked with fondness and a hint of nostalgia.

"Look River no. I know those things but haven't done them, well except for Asgard. Don't really know about that one-Oh why am I even talking to you like this? This whole situation isn't even real." David rambled on, getting sick of his dream and wanting to just wake up. River look at him with confusion.

"What do you mean not real? What haven't you told us?" River asked in accusation, a bit of fear edging her voice. David sighed and decide to give up his whole facade, slipping back into his Scottish accent and looking at River with tired eyes.

"You're not real. None of you are real. Even the Vashta Nerada aren't real but for some childish and annoying reason, I'm still scared and acting irrationally. You see, it's all just a dream and I think it's bloody well time for me to wake up." He explained bitterly. River's eyes widened and her blood turned cold as realisation struck upon her.

"David?"

David's head shot up as fast as a canon and he nearly fell out of his chair at the mere shock of her using his name.

"What?" He gasped out, surprised that she actually knew him. In saying that, it's all just a dream so it shouldn't of been too surprising.

River scrunched up her eyes and held a hand to her head as a headache started to form. This complicated things by a mile. This was not good, not good at all. She gave out a sigh as she realised that all hope was shattered. This was the end of the road for her. She would never see the Doctor again. She opened up her eyes and stared at David, trying to formulate a plan on how to convince him that he was not living in a dream.

"David you're not dreaming." She started off simply.

"Yes I am." He replied almost immediately. She sighed and rolled her eyes. Stubborn as usual. River grabbed his hands and made him look at her in the eyes.

"No you're not and I can see it in your eyes that you don't truly believe it either..." He glanced away trying to avoid eye contact with her but yet again she made him look at her. "...David if you were really dreaming would you feel this?" She questioned on. David furrowed his eyebrows.

"Feel what?" He asked curiously.

"This." She replied simply, enunciating her comment by slapping David hard on the cheek.

"OW!" David exclaimed, being totally taken off guard by the sheer force of her hand and getting almost knocked off his chair.

"See? You wouldn't of felt that if you were dreaming." River commented cheekily. After rubbing his cheek several times and working some feeling back into his jaw, David sat back up again and spoke his dislike of the slap to River.

"A warning would've been nice! Besides, it's probably just all inside my head. Pain comes from the brain so it's not entirely unlikely that it can synthesise those feeling when you sleep." While his explanation had made sense, he didn't entirely believe it and River could spot it by the way he spoke.

"David, stop making excuses and feel. Feel everything, hear everything, taste, smell and actually see without being blinded by what you think are impossibilities." River spoke passionately. David shook his head and pressed his back firmly against the chair, trying desperately to make distance between River and himself. She was creating doubts in his head and that was never a good thing. _No, not creating them but showing them to yourself_. A little voice whispered in his head. _Shut up!_ He thought back._ You knew it yourself, David. You could see it, **feel** it._ He squeezed his eyes shut just wanting to wake up or to see anything but this dream. _Feel it, David._

"Shut up. Just shut up!" He exclaimed aloud, just wanting to put his hands up to his ears and drown out the voices in his head, but unable to due to River holding them into place. The whispers were getting louder, like shouts in the corners of his mind. _Remember, David. Remember how everything felt. Feel it. Your hearts pumping, the air tickling the hairs on your skin, the taste of the atmosphere and the mixture of breathable gases, the sound of doors banging echoing through the air, the smell of old books and dust...feel it, David. Believe it. It's all there and all real. Stop pretending. You know it's real because this is not..._

"...a dream." River whispered in his ear. David gasped out loudly and his eyes snapped open. He stood up abruptly, knocking over the chair in the process and ripped out his hands from River's like they were on fire. He stumbled backwards, trying to urgently get away from the professor and create as much distance as possible.

"W-what. H-how did you do that?" David asked shakily still trying to back away from the approaching River. "You were in my head! You were creating my thoughts!" He exclaimed hysterically.

"Oh no. Did the Doctor have a gerbil vortex episode again?" Donna complained in the background.

"Look. Calm down. I just had to show you that it was all real. Everything is real and you know it's not a dream but if you keep on pretending that it is then you're gonna risk not only your life but the lives that surround you." River stated firmly but calmly, slowly approaching the shaken up man.

"But it's impossible!" David shouted fearfully, shivering from the panic and fear he felt from River being in his head. It felt like an intrusion, a complete obstruction in his privacy. But then, just as suddenly as he had tensed up, he relaxed as an epiphany washed over him. River did not like at all how suddenly calm he had become.

"Of course! Why didn't think of this sooner? It's so obvious! Been staring at me right in the face." He burst out cheerfully. River was worried, she didn't think this could lead into anything good.

"Think of what?" Donna asked in confusion. David suddenly turned to her and grabbed her shoulders manically.

"Of a way to finally wake up from this excruciatingly long dream." He answered with excitement as he then let go of her shoulders and started to walk away.

Dread filled River's blood as she realised what David's epiphany was and with that in mind River found herself running towards a deluded man in a trench coat, trying to stop him from walking into the shadows.

"No! Stop!"

**AN:Woah. That was long, painfully long to write at least. Thanks again guys for all the reviews. We hit over 1500 views on this story in the past month and I was so psyched. Keep up the great work guys and remember that I am a big fan of constructive criticism so if you spot anything wrong with the story or wanna pitch in ideas I am all for that. Thanks for the support and I'll see ya next chapter with the Doctor. Oh that is going to be a good one. TTFN**


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